Death and Torture in Lanzhou City Pingantai Forced Labour Camp

24 September 2005

Falun Gong Practitioner Ms. Hou Youfang was a 48-year-old teacher in Jinchang City's Xipo Middle School. She was sent to the Pingantai Forced Labour Camp because she practised Falun Gong. She was subjected to all kinds of torture, including brutal beatings and being hung up by handcuffs fastened behind her back. When she died, many of the bones in her body were fractured.

Practitioner Mr. Zhao Xudong, from the Lanzhou Chemical Industry Main Corporation Supply and Sales Company, was beaten to death in the Pingan Forced Labour Camp. His mother, Bai Jinyu, had her arms beaten to a pulp by a thug incited by labour camp officers because she refused to give up Falun Gong.

Practitioner Ms. Ren Shuzhen is a 63-year-old doctor with the Gansu Province Yongdeng County Hospital. She was sent to the Lanzhou City Pingantai Forced Labour Camp because she practised Falun Gong. Other inmates, incited by team leader Hu Runmei, knocked out a few of her teeth. The guards forced her to do an excessive amount of work in an effort to "transform"1 her and stop her from cultivating "Truthfulness, Compassion, Forbearance," but they couldn't move her firm will to cultivate Falun Gong. They then handcuffed her behind her back, tied a rope through the handcuffs and hung her in the vegetable cellar. People were assigned to monitor her and not let her sleep. This torture is called "Hanging Upside Down."

Practitioner Ms. Jiao Tianyun is a 24-year-old, township cadre of a village in Linxia. She also was sent to the Pingantai Forced Labour Camp, where she was once tortured seven times a day for three days straight. Team leader Hu Runmei had a criminal inmate put dirty rags and stinking socks into her mouth and then torture her with "Hanging Upside Down."

Practitioner Ms. Mao Zhonglian is 53 years old. She is from Linxia City. She was also subjected to the torture of "Hanging Upside Down" and developed bowel and urinary problems.

Note

1. "Reform or Transform" Implementation of brainwashing and torture in order to force a practitioner to renounce Falun Gong. (Variations: "reform", "transform", "reformed", "reforming", "transformed", "transforming", and "transformation")